Coffee Stains: New Grand-Daughter

Well, I’ve done it again. I’m a grandpa for the eight time, which is really amazing for someone as young as me. Last Saturday, when all the interested parties rushed to the hospital to get the job done, they assigned me the easy task. I got to stay home and take care of four-year old big brother, Josh, all by myself, (my wife had an important ladies’ meeting). So we  sang, and burped, and ate a bit too much candy with no females around to tell us to stop. Life was good.

The hard part happened at the hospital. It’s tough bringing beautiful little girls into the world. As a matter of fact, it’s tough being pregnant. The only thing tougher than being a pregnant woman is being married to one, but that’s another Coffee Stain. I remember when our daughter Christi was pregnant the first time. They had been married three years and were a little worried because nothing seemed to be happening. So when she finally conceived, we got a nine-month play by play of all the vomiting, sick stomachs, etc. (and loved every bit of it). In February, though, she had her fourth boy and this nine months for her was more like … let’s say the excitement level wasn’t the same as it was tougher to see the good side of all the sickness. Ah, but the result! My incomparable grandchildren resulted from all that vomiting. Have I told you about my grandkids? They’ve grown from a little flock to a small army reaching from Massachusetts to Texas to Africa.

And I’m in France, which is another story … Strange to say though, some of us are pregnant today. We’re pregnant with what God told us to do. And it hurts, and kicks, and we get sick of it. But oh, the results! Usually the gestational period of our dream lasts a lot longer than nine months. In my life I’ve been ‘pregnant’ with churches and magazines and visions that I believe God gave me, and everyone of them complicated my life. I smirk sometimes when I hear people chirp, ‘Oh, just do God’s will for your life and you’ll be sooooo happy!’ Has that person ever tried to do God’s will? The ‘soooooo happy’ comes when you hang in there, and fight, and trust Him, believing in the face of impossibility. Listen to the story of a man ‘pregnant’ with God’s promise,

‘Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be. “Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead, since he was about a hundred years old, and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.’ (Rom. 4:18-21, NIV)

Ah, yes. Being pregnant is tough. But little Alana Sophia Porter proves that it’s worth it. Some of you ‘pregnant’ people reading this, need to hang on and keep on doing what God told you to do. Birth time may be just around the corner.

Hmmm …

‘The more ignorant you are ,the quicker you fight.’ Will Rogers